Poll #2006
Open to: All, results viewable to: All

Who Do You Like Better?

Good news of the week of course, is that a near complete print of Metropolis has finally been found (never been seen since the Berlin premiere from what I recall). Supposedly all that's missing is one cathedral sequence which there is supposedly also a lead on. Fritz Lang once responded to someone's gushing about Metropolis by asking "Why are you talking about a film that doesn't exist?". Well finally after all this time, it looks like just might well exist in the form he intended after all. I love the restoration (with the music originally written for the film and performed on it's premiere) done a few years back and chances were that that was as complete as the film was ever likely to get (with almost 25 minutes of footage missing). I look forward to the newly recovered footage being available on DVD. Metropolis is the greatest sci-fi movie of all time in my opinion, bar none (and one of my all time favourite movies). Amazing isn't quite the word for it's spectacle.

As to my life, well I'm often too tired or don't have enough time to really bother with the internet or anything else, much less update about it, during the week. I could rant here about a certain bloody woman at the Scottish Training Foundation and all her faults and crimes against humanity, but why bother at the weekend when I'm trying to enjoy my temporary respite! I could mention the waste of time it was, getting prepared and dressed for a potential job interview that instead turned out to be a mere placement with the chance of a lowly paying job at the end that probably wouldn't cover my travel and prescription expenses if I were to survive the placement period and take it. I could also talk about some of the silly rules they have at this meat for the grinder placement. But *meh*

So how was the Doctor Who series four finale then? Well, I'm still trying to sort out my mixed feelings about it *g* I think I enjoyed it and may even come to love it in the future. But there are plenty of criticisms that could be levelled at it, and at the moment I could certainly be at the very least sympathetic to many of them. I think I liked it though (certainly didn't leave me with any desire to never see it again or anything) and I already know I liked it better than the worst episodes of the revived series so far *cough*Voyage Of The Damned*cough* Nice to have a trailer for the Paris-mas Special at the end. Already knew some of the reports about the plot, but it was good to see it confirmed.

For more detailed thoughts and SPOILERS then read on....

The fake regeneration was an effective cliffhanger (but surely not the only one that could have been thought up for such a brilliant episode as The Stolen Earth?), but it's resolution feels like a cheat that will cheapen Tennant's real regeneration when it happens.

As usual, the Daleks get defeated in one fell swoop. But that's what always happens in such stories.

I'm sad about the fate of Donna of course, but at least she didn't get killed. And it would be easy enough to find a solution to the problem should Catherine Tate wish to return in future (just as Rose & Co could handily be brought back when it suited them). I liked the old Donna just as much as the new Donna though, so it was good to see her yapping away blissfully on the phone at the end.

There were way too many continuity references, red herrings and general fanwank! Too many of these potential save the day weapons could have been cut out to tell a tighter story (for all they allegedly contributed to the story). A minor complaint but one worth noting.

Nice to see Lynda with a Y feature in the flashbacks :D

Martha is still cringeworthy to me, I'm afraid. She was okay (and sometimes more) in series three, but ever since her appearances seem to be a vacuum that just sucks the life out of any scene she's in.

Everything ended up being too cosy. Even Rose's jealousy of Martha got dropped and they became instant just add water best friends for life. The speculated deaths never turned into everything and there was too much feeling of it all being a jolly old adventure after the intensity and darkness of the previous episode. If the show's makers can't follow through on this stuff, they shouldn't set it up or tantalise us to expect otherwise in publicity.

There was much to enjoy in the story of course, but when you're doing analysis it tends to be the niggly things that leap out more. Overall I liked it. Far from perfect and there's much to criticise if you didn't like it, no question. It was more a case of having a lot to take in and too much going on, that stopped me from completely raving about it afterwards, rather than any major disappointments. A sort of up in the air chaotic pick 'n' mix where the brilliant, the wonderful, the what the fuck and the bleh all mix together in various spiralling assortments.

Don't get much time to watch stuff during the week, but I've been making up for lost time over the weekend:

DVDs:

Pledge This! Overall Film: 5/10 Paris Hilton's Scenes: 10/10 I've seen this a few times before of course but I needed a Paris fix towards the end of the week. I've seen worse comedies but it's not particularly well made. I love it for Paris's scenes though. She's at her most gorgeous throughout (like there's ever a time she's not at her most gorgeous *snort*) and has some fun scenes like when she seduces the teacher, her cute "excuse me?" bit and getting her doggy to give her boyfriend a blow job in her absence. At least until I see The Hottie & The Nottie or Repo: The Genetic Opera, this movie for it's imperfections is enjoyable enough and showcases Paris enough to be my second favourite movie appearance of her's behind House Of Wax.

Ultimate Rambo Collection 10/10 As I hadn't seen the previous Rambo movies in a while, I decided to pick this DVD boxset over the latest movie on it's own. I really enjoyed watching all the movies again. I'd forgotten that Brian Dennehey is the sheriff in the first movie (despite that probably being my introduction to him as a familiar actor in childhood). The third was better than I remembered (and enjoyable enough if you ignore more unpleasant implications between the plot and what happened later in real life as regards Afghanistan). The fourth movie was more enjoyable on second viewing. It's not as epic a revisitation of an old icon as Rocky Balboa was and just feels like another episode in the character's life. It's pretty gory though and does have a kick ass finale, but more going on in the plot would have helped. In the extras for the last movie, I couldn't help notice how striking Julie Benz looks with dark hair - far more eyecatching to me than normal (she's looked good in glamour photos and the like but as Darla in Buffy and Angel she never really did much for me). A brilliant collection and just what I needed for a trip down memory lane over the weekend.

The Banquet 7/10 I seem to have a Pavlovian response to buying DVDs with Zhang Ziyi on the cover *g* Yes I know there's some sort of general dislike or backlash against her, but it's never been adequately explained why and being a Paris fan I know all too well myself that just because someone's disliked or criticised doesn't mean that a single solitary iota of it is is neccesarily justified or deserved. So needless to say, I won't be jumping on that bandwagon just yet without reason and Zhang Ziyi has impressed me ever since I first saw Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and didn't know anything about her other than her performance on the screen. This movie is a Chinese historical epic version of Hamlet (maybe with a bit of Romeo & Juliet and Lady MacBeth thrown in). It's a bit too arty at times (particularly in the scene of the old general being beaten to death - a scene that should have evoked some horror or sympathy instead of being a choreographed dance with some blood thrown in) but action takes a backseat to court intrigue anyway, particularly in the second half. A worthy enough movie if you enjoy Asian epics.

Paris Lockdown 7/10 I just can't resist checking out a movie with the word "Paris" on the cover, can I? *g* This is a French gangster thriller with nothing particularly notable but decent enough of it's type. The backcover blurb is inaccurate as it's more about the boss's gang turning against him rather than him hunting them down. Beatrice Dalle of Betty Blue fame has a role of the boss's main girlfriend. A decent enough French thriller but nothing that you haven't seen before in other gangster flicks.